There is just so much cool design on packaging these days. I can't resist it.
I found these Black Forest Fruit Snacks on sale at the supermarket the other day (which are delicious, BTW) and realized we could sell the small packets sell individually for a decent profit. It was a good idea because they sell well. I've already had to buy more. And look what I got from the first box.
Book 282 is an oval book with a ring binding. I cut the logo from both sides of the box and backed it with raspberry colored textured pearlescent card stock for strength. I then cut about 50 oval pages from a variety of papers--white text, purple text, blue speckled card stock, white translucent vellum, pale blue cloud print, and purple granite scrapbooking paper. I punched holes in the two covers and in all the pages, stacked them up and bound them with a double ring I made from 20 gauge copper wire.
This is obviously a dead simple little book to make but it was actually very time intensive because of the unusual shape. I had to hand-cut all 50 oval pages. But it was OK. I called up the Dancing With the Stars finals on the computer and watched while I cut. (Way to go, J.R.! I was rooting for you!)
I will make lots more of these simple little books, because I know they will sell quickly. But I'll make them in shapes I can cut in piles, with straight lines, or ones I can punch out quickly with a paper punch. Fast, we like fast!
Book 283 was made from the sides of the box. The covers were lined with a nice silver-blue metallic textured card stock. I folded and trimmed nine signatures and then wrapped the fold edge of each one with colored japanese washi tape in three different colors. I stitched the book with a single-needle coptic stitch with black waxed linen thread.
Perfect size for a purse or pocket.
Book 284 - This one came out kind of cool because I was able to cut off all the type on the cover. It simply looks like a little blank journal with a fruit design cover. It doesn't look like recycled packaging. These fruit designs were also from the box front and back. I used the same silver-blue card stock to line the covers. Ten signatures were bound with a single-needle coptic stitch with red Irish linen thread, but it is slightly different this time. Using a trick from Shereen LaPlantz, I carried my thread down TWO signatures instead of one before wrapping it around the stitch to form the chain. This gives the chain stitching on the spine a little more substance.
The squared off shape makes for bigger pages and more room to write, but this is still a good purse size. I'd carry this notebook around with me.
And that's what there is in a box of fruit snacks... if you're a bookmaker.
I found these Black Forest Fruit Snacks on sale at the supermarket the other day (which are delicious, BTW) and realized we could sell the small packets sell individually for a decent profit. It was a good idea because they sell well. I've already had to buy more. And look what I got from the first box.
Book 282 is an oval book with a ring binding. I cut the logo from both sides of the box and backed it with raspberry colored textured pearlescent card stock for strength. I then cut about 50 oval pages from a variety of papers--white text, purple text, blue speckled card stock, white translucent vellum, pale blue cloud print, and purple granite scrapbooking paper. I punched holes in the two covers and in all the pages, stacked them up and bound them with a double ring I made from 20 gauge copper wire.
This is obviously a dead simple little book to make but it was actually very time intensive because of the unusual shape. I had to hand-cut all 50 oval pages. But it was OK. I called up the Dancing With the Stars finals on the computer and watched while I cut. (Way to go, J.R.! I was rooting for you!)
I will make lots more of these simple little books, because I know they will sell quickly. But I'll make them in shapes I can cut in piles, with straight lines, or ones I can punch out quickly with a paper punch. Fast, we like fast!
Book 283 was made from the sides of the box. The covers were lined with a nice silver-blue metallic textured card stock. I folded and trimmed nine signatures and then wrapped the fold edge of each one with colored japanese washi tape in three different colors. I stitched the book with a single-needle coptic stitch with black waxed linen thread.
Perfect size for a purse or pocket.
Book 284 - This one came out kind of cool because I was able to cut off all the type on the cover. It simply looks like a little blank journal with a fruit design cover. It doesn't look like recycled packaging. These fruit designs were also from the box front and back. I used the same silver-blue card stock to line the covers. Ten signatures were bound with a single-needle coptic stitch with red Irish linen thread, but it is slightly different this time. Using a trick from Shereen LaPlantz, I carried my thread down TWO signatures instead of one before wrapping it around the stitch to form the chain. This gives the chain stitching on the spine a little more substance.
The squared off shape makes for bigger pages and more room to write, but this is still a good purse size. I'd carry this notebook around with me.
And that's what there is in a box of fruit snacks... if you're a bookmaker.
I like them all! Especially the little oval book. :)
ReplyDeleteI was rooting for JR, too, and just watched the finale after the fact, too. (I record so I can FF through much of any reality shows--LOL!)
Handmade and so clever. I really think you are on to something with recycled packaging books. I am in the packaging biz and I know how much hard work and money goes in to producing full color printed graphics. These books are a great way to showcase and recycle a humble box.
ReplyDeleteOh and JR all the way too!
Joy - I agree, and I love the recycling aspect of it. But mostly, I just love the graphics. I'll probably never stop using packaging for books, at least not while we have the store and have an unlimited supply of it!
ReplyDeleteoooooo..., I love the ring shaped book; perfect for that black forest logo, Now I am hungry for the fruit.
ReplyDelete